The Thief in the Night
by Tapper1230
Summary: There's no rest for the weary when there's stolen artwork on the line. It's up to Emily and her new team to find it before it's gone forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Emily was awoken by the buzzing emanating from the loud vibrations of her phone on the nightstand next to her bed. Half awake, she reached over and, without seeing who it was, answered it. "Hello?" she groaned, still waking up.

"You are in very big trouble, missy. I told you as soon as you landed you had to call me so I knew you got there safe but when you didn't, my mind went to worst case scenario," she heard from the other end of the line. "Garcia," she tried interrupting the lecture she was getting from her friend.

"Garcia," she groaned again, this time a little louder. Penelope continued on her lecture, ignoring Emily. "Garcia!" Emily snapped, this time getting her friend's attention. "There was some commotion at the airport, that's why I didn't call. We had a case literally from the minute I got off the plane and by the time we caught the guy I was so tired Clyde brought me to my apartment and I fell asleep almost immediately. I don't even know what time it is, never mind the day," she explained.

"Oh. You mean flat love," Garcia teased in her best British accent. "Well, it's nine o'clock in the morning here so that means it's about two o'clock in the afternoon there," she responded. Emily looked at her watch, then realized that she hadn't changed it yet, and looked at the time on her phone. "Well, it's a good thing I'm not supposed to be in the office today," Emily remarked in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Emily heard a conversation in the background and then heard Garcia say, "Hey, I've gotta go, we have a case but I'll call you later okay?" "Alright, I'll talk to you later. Give Sergio a snuggle for me," Emily replied. "Will do, talk to you soon. Bye," Garcia ended the call.

Emily sat in bed for a minute after the call ended and then decided to get up and take a shower. She rummaged through her luggage, looking for a towel, a change of clothes, and some soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Once she found what she was looking for, she slung the towel over her shoulder and headed for the bathroom. She turned on the water and began getting undressed. As she stripped off her pajamas, she took stock of the aches and pains she felt. She stepped into the shower and thought about how wonderful the hot, flowing water felt on her stiff muscles and it then dawned on her she hadn't had a shower since she left the States.

As she lathered up her body, her fingers grazed the scar she tried so hard to forget existed. She looked down at the four-leafed clover that had been branded on her chest just about a year ago. Seeing that every day was a constant reminder of Ian Doyle. A constant reminder of the hell he put her through when he broke out of prison and came after her and her team for revenge.

She stood under the water, enjoying every minute of it and then when she was satisfied with her shower, she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair, turned the water off, and reached for her towel. She stepped out of the enclosure and into the steam-filled room. She dried herself off and then proceeded to yank on a clean pair of sweatpants. When she reached for her t-shirt, she realized she hadn't grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste. She opened the bathroom door and headed for her luggage to look for them both. On her way back to the bathroom, she checked her phone and saw some missed calls and a voicemail.

"Oh, great," she muttered as she walked back into the bathroom. While she brushed her teeth, she listened to the message on her phone. It was from Jack who was informing her of another case they had just received. There had been three robberies all within the last few weeks that seem to have something in common- all of them had to do with private collections of artwork, where something stolen from them.

When she finished brushing her teeth, she dialed Jack's number. She heard the rings on the other line followed by a familiar British voice. "Well good afternoon, sleepyhead," Jack said jokingly. "Did you get my message about the case?" he asked. "Yes, I just did," she replied. "I told the team to be here in a half hour so we can get started on it," he told her. "That sounds like a plan. I'll be there in thirty," she responded.

After she hung up, Emily, now realized what she was wearing, went to look for something appropriate to wear to the office. "I should really just put this stuff away instead of rummaging through these damn bags every five seconds," she grumbled to herself, annoyed by the number of times she'd had to go through her suitcases in the last twenty-four hours.

Once she found something suitable to wear, she quickly changed, brushed her hair, put on some makeup, and headed for the door. She took about three steps away from her apartment when she realized she'd forgotten the keys for her new car that Clyde had told her he was going to drop off for her and had done so while she was sleeping. She turned around and put the key in the lock, opened the door just enough so she could grab the keys from the hook and closed and locked the door once again.

She got into the elevator and headed for the garage of the building where her new car was parked. It took her a few minutes to find where the spot marked for her apartment was. Once she found it, she unlocked the car and climbed into it. It was a big SUV, like the ones she was used to driving in Quantico, except for the fact that it was a light silver color instead of black. Clyde, knowing her, had picked out a vehicle he knew she was comfortable driving and would like, rather than something he knew she would hate.

"Wow, I haven't driven this way in a while. I hope I still remember their rules of the road," she thought to herself as she began backing her car out of the spot. Slowly but surely, Emily made it to the office without managing to drive on what's considered the right side of the road in the U.S. Once she parked her car in the spot marked "Chief," she got out of the car and headed for the building. She made her way to the elevators, hit the "up" button and took a step back. "Lifts, they call them lifts," she muttered reminding herself to use British slang and not American English. The elevator to her left dinged and the doors slid open.

Emily got into the cabin and pressed the appropriate floor button. The doors closed and it began to make a humming noise as it began to rise. The elevator stopped a few times on the way up, but then made its way to the floor Emily was going to. When the doors opened, she stepped out into the hall. She made her way through the hustle and bustle of agents working at the surrounding desks. After she reached the other side of the office, she walked into the small room with a round table where the rest of the team was sitting around, waiting for her. "Sorry, I'm late, it's going to take me a bit to get reacclimated to driving London streets again," she joked as she took off her jacket and found her place at the table.

"What've we got?" Emily asked as she looked at the screen in front of them. "There have been several robberies of artwork from private collections. The most recent incident happened in Birmingham, in an area called Harborne to be more specific. The first one happened in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the second in Dublin, Ireland. The authorities notified us because the robberies crossed over into our territory. They think they are all connected because of the pieces that have gone missing," Jack explained.

"Also, during this last robbery, the husband was assaulted by one of the robbers. He's going to be okay, but they sent him to the hospital. He had some cuts and bruises and had to get stitches," he added.

"No one was hurt during any of the other robberies?" Charlie, who was sitting at the other end of the table, asked. "No, that's the one thing that's different. Neither of the other robberies had this happen. The owners of the home were home during all three, but this was the only one that there was an interaction between the intruders and the homeowners. Both the others were in and out without anyone knowing until the next morning," Jack responded.

"When do we head out?" Emily asked. "They're expecting us by this evening," he answered. "Let's get a move on then. In the cars in fifteen," she told the team. Almost all at once, everyone in the room was up and heading for their desks to get their go bags.

Once everyone had gathered their things, they all headed for the cars and prepared for their two and a half-hour car ride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The team rode in two separate cars; the first with Emily, Jack, and Charlie and the other with Amelia, Sophie, and George. "Do you guys always drive to cases when they're a few hours distance?" Emily asked as she looked over at Jack, who was driving. "Sometimes, they don't like it when we spend all that money to take the jet. Sometimes it's cheaper to just drive a couple hours than to use the jet for a few minutes," he answered. "I do miss those twenty-minute jet rides from state to state. The bureau didn't really say much when we did that," she replied. "Well, we'd get there a little faster if grandpa would let me drive," Charlie pouted in the back seat. "Sorry, Speedy Gonzalez, I'm not letting you drive anymore until you learn to drive like a normal person," Jack lectured.

In the other car, Amelia and Sophie were blasting the Spice Girls and singing along, like the obnoxious teenagers they were ten years ago. George was sitting in the back seat, quietly staring out the window. Sophie reached over and turned the music down slightly. What's the matter Georgie, don't like the Spice Girls?" she asked, practically shouting over the music that was still loud. "Not my taste of music," he replied and looked back out the window. "What _is_ your taste in music, Georgie?" Sophie asked. "I'm into the classics, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky is my favorite. Have you heard his Violin Concerto? Or The Queen of Spades?" George began his tangent, getting excited just talking about his favorite composers.

The girls giggled in the front seat and shook their heads in response to George's question. He sunk back into the seat and stared out the window again, disappointed that they did not share the same interests as him.

"Are we there yet?" Charlie asked, like a child in the back seat. "No, squirt, we ain't," Jack responded as a father would to his son. "How much longer? I gotta use the loo," he replied. "Let me tell them we're stopping at the nearest rest stop," Emily told Jack and grabbed her phone from the cupholder where it was sitting.

The girls heard one of their phones ringing and immediately turned the music down so they could hear who was on the other end of the line. "Hello?" Sophie said cheerfully. "It's Emily. Charlie has to use the restroom so we're pulling over at the next rest stop," she told her. "He has to use the what?" Sophie asked, confused as to what Emily was saying. "Oh, that's right. I forgot you don't call them that here. The loo. He has to use the loo," she corrected herself after realizing that it was an American term. "You confused me there for a second with your American talk," Sophie joked. "How far are we from the next rest stop?" she asked. "I believe the last sign said two kilometers," Emily answered her. "Okay. I'll tell Amelia. See you there," she replied before hanging up.

Once they arrived at the rest stop Charlie jumped out of the car and made a beeline for the door marked with the male character. The rest of the team got out of the vehicles to stretch their legs before getting back into them for another hour. When Charlie returned, Jack looked at everyone else and asked as you would to children on a road trip, "Does anyone else have to go before we leave? Because I'm not stopping again." Everyone either responded "no" or shook their heads to indicate that they didn't have to.

The team climbed back into their cars and began the rest of their drive. There was small talk and a mostly quiet car for Jack, Charlie, and Emily and a loud, almost concert-like noise coming from the other car while George sat quietly in the back seat.

When they arrived at the Harborne Police Station, they pulled into the parking lot and parked their cars. They all headed for the building, leaving their go bags and other items in the cars. "Good to see ya, Jackie," said the chief of police as he greeted them. "Hey, Archie, how's Evie and the boys doing?" he asked, shaking his old friend's hand. "They're doing just fine. Arlo just went to university," he told him. "This is Chief Constable Archie Clark. We've worked together many times over the years, become quite good friends too," he introduced him.

Emily extended her hand and introduced herself, "I'm Agent Emily Prentiss," "That's Chief Prentiss now, remember?" Jack reminded her. "Sorry, I'm still not used to calling myself that. I'm Chief Prentiss," she corrected herself. "Nice to meet you," Archie replied.

"And these are Agents Smith, Roberts, Evans, and Jones," she told him, gesturing to each agent as she said their names. "It's nice to meet you all," he said to them. "Come with me. We can set you up in the back conference room," he said, nodding his head in the direction they needed to go. They followed Chief Clark down a long hallway and into a large room with whiteboards set up and a computer in the corner. "I set it up just like you like it, Jack. If I didn't know how to do it by now, I think you'd kill me," he joked and shared a laugh with his friend. "Thanks, Archie. We're gonna set up a bit in here and then head over to the crime scene if that's okay," Jack said.

"Absolutely. Just let me know when you're ready to go," Archie said as he retreated out the door. Archie came back into the room a few seconds later with the file that was in his hand. "I almost forgot. Here are the photos from each of the crime scenes and the lists and photos of items that went missing," he said as he handed the file to Emily. "These individuals are quite meticulous about knowing what pieces they have in their collections," he said in a sarcastic voice. "Thank you, Chief Clark," Emily replied before he left the room.

She spread out the photos onto the table and kept the lists in her hand. She skimmed each list quickly and then looked at the photos of the missing items afterward. "It appears that all of the missing items are similar like the same artist made them, or they were made in the same time period and style," she stated. "Why would someone want this artwork anyway? To be quite frank, I think it's hideous," Charlie blurted out. "That's because you have no taste, Evans. These are classic pieces from John D. Batten. His pieces are very interesting in fact. He painted in oils, tempera, and fresco. He even illustrated books and was a printmaker," he explained.

George analyzed each of the images that showed the illustrations that were missing. "He, or she, seems to have a specific taste," he stated without looking up from the images. "All the images that were stolen appear to be the original pieces from the book, _More English Fairy Tales._ Before the book was published, he drew all of his illustrations on a larger medium, then drew them smaller afterward for the book," he explained.

"So you're saying that all of the artwork that's been stolen is from the same book, but they're the originals before the book?" Emily asked. "Precisely," George replied. "Whoever we're looking for knows exactly what they're looking at. They have some sort of knowledge of art. If they didn't, then they could've taken any other item in the collections and they wouldn't match," he went on.

Charlie flipped the cap off the marker and scribbled some notes off to the side on one of the whiteboards. He wrote, "John D. Batten, _More English Fairy Tales,_ knowledge of artwork." Once he was finished, he put the cap back onto the marker and placed it onto the ledge below the whiteboard. Everyone looked at what he had written to see if he'd missed anything.

Emily looked over the notes again and then made the decision of what they would do next. "Alright, let's divide and conquer. The crime scene is going to take a while and we need someone with art knowledge to sort this out. And Mr. Campbell still needs to be interviewed. So, Sophie, George, you're with me. We'll take the crime scene," she ordered. Amelia piped up, "That leaves me, Jack, and Evans to talk to Mr. Campbell."

The team gathered what they needed and headed out the door and back towards the entrance of the police station. "Ready to go?" Chief Clark asked. "Yes, we are. We are heading to the crime scene to see if anything could have been overlooked," she said as she gestured to Sophie and George. "And we are headed to talk to Mr. Campbell. Maybe he remembered something about the intruder, or maybe he can tell us more about the artwork that was taken," Jack replied. "Aye. Let me get one of my officers to go with Jackie and the others and then we can head out," he replied before he walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

They arrived at an extravagant home in a well-to-do section of the neighborhood. They were escorted in by Chief Clark and brought to the room where the private collection was housed. The gallery was large and full of light, with the roof consisting of only glass panes. There were pictures and paintings on each wall, each hung in a matching dark wooden frame.

On one wall, there were empty spots where very clearly there was a frame missing. The missing frames were piled in the corner, broken and empty. "I assume these are what the missing pictures were in," George stated as he walked over to the pile of broken wood and glass. "Aye. They took them from the wall over there," Chief Clark began as he gestured to the spot on the wall, "and smashed the frames over there," he finished his sentence and gestured to where George was now standing.

"Any particular reason why the frames would have been smashed?" Emily asked, perplexed by the pile of broken items. "No clue. My guess would be that he was angry at something," Chief Clark answered. "Or someone," Sophie spoke up. "That's a possibility. The person or persons that are responsible for this may have some kind of grudge against the individuals they stole these pictures from," Emily stated.

"I doubt it," George called from the other end of the room. "If there was something personal against these people, then why are the pictures from the same collection being stolen? There are other paintings here that are worth far more than the ones that were stolen," he said as he made his way back over to everyone.

"That makes sense," Emily concluded after hearing what George had to say. "Where is the point of entry?" she asked Chief Clark. "Over this way," he pointed and began heading towards a grate on the wall. "This connects to the air ducts. The panel was off when we got here so that must've been where they entered from," he told her. "How would they have gotten into the ducts? Is there somewhere outside that they could've entered from?" she asked. "Aye. Come this way and I'll show ya," he said as he headed for the entryway of the home.

Chief Clark led them around to the back of the house to the fire escape ladder that led to the roof. They climbed up the ladder and up onto the roof. On the other side of the roof was a large vent with the cover off. "This is where they entered from," he told her. "So, if they entered from here, how did they exit?" she asked. "We haven't figured that one out yet. There are alarms for the front door, back door, and windows so we know they didn't take the easy way out. To be honest with you, I'm not totally sure what way they went out because there were no other holes or anything left exposed," he said scratching his head.

"Hypothetically, they could've gone out the way they came in," George proposed. "How so?" Sophie asked. "Well, if they used something like ropes, then they could've rappelled down the vents and then climbed back up again if they connected back to the rope," he explained.

"Aren't the vents a little small for that? If they were to do that, they would have to be child-sized," Sophie countered. "Not necessarily. There are certain devices out there that release the rope for you and then pull it back up. If they used one of those, then they would've needed to have someone on the roof controlling the device and be communicating with them from the inside," he explained.

"Do we know how the other homes were broken into? Did they have vents that were left open like this one?" Emily asked. "No. Each was different. One of the homes didn't have any vents so they didn't know how they were able to get in and out since there was nothing that indicated it was tampered with. The only thing they could think of is that they used the chimney as they tell ya ol' Father Christmas does on Christmas," Chief Clark replied.

"And how about the other house?" Sophie asked. "That house had no security system or nothin'. There were marks on the back door that looked like they picked the lock to get in," he answered. "Huh," Emily grumbled. "What is it?" Sophie asked. "Each house had a different way of getting in based on the home. They would've had to take the time to look at each house in order to determine the best points of entry," she said.

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked. "Well, they knew that this house and one of the others had a security system. And that the other didn't. They also knew how to get in and get out quickly, quietly, and efficiently. They didn't just pick any vent to try and get to the room where the collection was, they knew exactly which vent would lead them to it," Emily explained.

"So you're saying you think they canvassed the houses before they robbed them?" Chief Clark asked. "I'm saying they did their research about each of the homes, yes," Emily answered. They stood in silence for a minute while they thought about the situation and how the robbers could have gotten close enough to know what they did about each home.

"Did they have any deliveries come from the same company? Maybe a company came to service something?" Emily pondered out loud. "Not that I'm aware of," Chief Clark answered. "We can look into that." "That's the only way I can think of that they would've known all these things about the houses. Either that or they're stalking them," she replied sarcastically.

"I'll see what my guys have when we get back. I haven't checked with them for a few hours. They were neck deep in credit card statements and bank transactions when I last checked," he told her.

"Is there anything else you want to look at before we head back to the office?" he asked. "I don't think so. Do you have photos of the other crime scenes back at the office?" Emily asked him. "We only have what was stolen, but I can call over to the other police departments and get more from them," he replied. "If you could get the entry and exit points that would be great," she responded.

They all headed back for the vehicles for the return trip to the police department. On the way back, they discussed theories of what kinds of work the homeowners could've had done on their homes that the robbers would've been able to see their homes to get a feel for how they would enter and exit. When they arrived back at the police station, they went inside and headed directly for the conference room. George added some notes to the board about what they'd learned and cleaned up Charlie's notes from earlier to make them legible.

About fifteen minutes went by when they heard a knock on the door. "I have those photos for you," Chief Clark said as he handed a folder to Emily. "As for the credit card statements and transactions, my guys are still working on them. These wealthy folks buy a lot of things in their spare time," he said sarcastically.

"Thank you," Emily replied. "Let me know when you have that information." "Will do," he said before exiting the room. Emily moved the photos of the artwork off to the side and splayed the new photos across the table. She studied them, hoping to have some kind of epiphany while she stared at them. "This guy must be really small in order to fit in these areas," she said. "Otherwise I don't see how he would've fit through the chimney. It looks tiny."

"To be fair, the chimney could be bigger than it looks. Sometimes photos are deceiving when it comes to size," Amelia added. "I guess you're right. They didn't exactly give us the measurements of the chimney," Emily replied.

George joined Emily in looking at the photos to see if he could add anything else to what they already knew. He grabbed his chin with his right hand and furrowed his brow. He stood there for a few minutes, however, no new information came to him from staring at the photos.

"I wonder how the others made out with Mr. Campbell," Emily spoke. "If he saw one of them, it may be a clue to who these guys are," Sophie added. "I'm going to go call Jack, see what they found," Emily told her. "Sounds good to me," Sophie replied. Emily began to dial Jack's number as she walked into the hallway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When they arrived at the hospital, the officer that was escorting them asked the front desk where Mr. Campbell's room was. The receptionist, who was an older woman, directed him to the lifts that would bring them to the third floor. They all rode up to the third floor and headed down a long hallway. At the end of the hall, they took a left and, again, went down the long hallway to the last room on the right.

The officer knocked on the door before entering. "Hello, sir, these are some agents from Interpol. They have a few questions for you regarding the break-in," he explained.

"Aye, let 'em in," Mr. Campbell said, waving them in. The agents entered the room and surrounded the hospital bed. "I'll be in the hall if you need me," the officer said as he walked out the door. "Hello, Mr. Campbell, I'm Agent Davies. We just have a few questions for you, if you're up for it," Jack introduced himself.

The older man was lying in the bed, unconsciously rubbing his balding head with one hand. He had a black eye and some stitches in his forehead from the assault by the intruder. He also had some scratches on his face and bruises on his arm. "What can I do for ya?" he asked. "I know one of the men who stole the artwork from your home assaulted you, did you happen to see what he looked like?" Jack asked him.

"No. They had black masks on and were wearing all black. The only thing I could make out was the tattoo on his neck. It looked like a snake or a dragon maybe. I didn't get a good look because he was beatin' the bloody hell out of me," Mr. Campbell answered.

"It's okay, sir," Jack responded. "Was there anything else they did or said?" "Well, they were constantly checking their watches. It was like they had to be somewhere at a certain time, ya know?" Mr. Campbell answered. "So, it was like they only had a certain amount of time to steal the artwork?" Amelia, who had been quiet the whole time, asked.

"Aye. They would call out how much time they had left and then..." he trailed off. "And then what?" Charlie asked. "Well, I don't know because the one that was kickin' the crap outta me knocked me out. Everything went black before they finished countin'. Next thing I knew I woke up in a hospital bed being poked and prodded," Mr. Campbell explained.

"Hmm," Jack said while he thought. He thought about why the intruders would be watching their time. "Now, in regards to the pieces that were stolen, is there any particular reason why someone would want those pieces over other ones in your collection?" Jack asked. "I couldn't tell ya. Those pieces are worth money, but there are others that are worth double if not triple of all of 'em combined," Mr. Campbell responded.

"There had to be something in particular about these pieces. All the pieces that have been stolen are all from the same collection. It's like they're trying to recreate the collection with the originals," Charlie added. "Do you have any enemies, sir? Anyone who would want to get back at you for one reason or another?" Amelia asked. "A man doesn't get to where I am in life without making a few enemies, lass. But as far as doing something like this? No. There's no one that I can think of that would need to steal from me...or worse," Mr. Campbell answered.

It was at this time that a nurse walked in. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to take Mr. Campbell up for some X-Rays. If we don't go now, we won't be able to do them until tomorrow," she said. "It's okay, ma'am. We were just about done here," Jack replied. He handed Mr. Campbell a card with his name and phone number on it. "If you think of anything else just give me a call, okay?" Jack said. "Aye," Mr. Campbell responded.

The team exited the small room and stepped out of the way of the nurse who was wheeling Mr. Campbell out of the room and down the hall in a wheelchair. "You get whatcha needed?" the officer asked. "Well, the best we could get," Charlie muttered.

They all headed for the lifts and back to the car. As they drove out of the parking lot, Jack began asking the questions he'd been silently milling around in his head. "So, if they didn't have anything against him, then what's the motive? And why _these_ pieces when they could have even _more_ expensive ones? And what was the countdown for? Time limit? The time before they get caught?"

"What if there was someone who wanted to make their own collection out of these pieces, like a super collection of John D. Batten's original pieces from this collection?" Charlie asked. "I bet they'd do anything to get them all, even if it meant stealing them in order to do so," he added.

"That's a possibility," Amelia replied. "And counting the time, what if that had to do with response time? I mean, if Mr. Campbell was awake and headed for the intruders in his home, wouldn't he have called the police? If he did and they knew the average response time for the area, then that could be what they were counting for," Amelia postulated.

"That is also a possibility," Jack responded. Suddenly, Jack's phone began to ring. "This is Davies," he said into the phone. "Hi, Jack, it's Emily. We just got through with the crime scene. Any luck with Mr. Campbell? Did he see anything?" she asked. "He said one of them had a tattoo on his neck, either a snake or a dragon he couldn't tell which. He also said that the intruders were counting down like they had to be out in a certain amount of time. We haven't figured that out just yet because they knocked Mr. Campbell unconscious. He didn't see them get out either," he explained.

"Well from the looks of it here, they went in and out of the air vents. In the first home, they broke in through the back door, and in the one after that, they didn't find anything so they assumed they used the chimney," she told him. "Aren't they a little big to be doin' that?" Jack asked. "If you have a small enough person, they might be able to squeeze in," she answered.

"Still seems like a stretch to me," he responded. "Do you know how they knew what way to get in yet?" he asked her. "No, not yet, Clark has officers looking into all the families' bank statements now to see if there's something that can tie them together. He's expecting it'll take them a while because they have to do it all one document at a time," she answered. "Goddammit, Archie! I've been tellin' him for years he needs to update his software so they don't have to do things the old-fashioned way," he practically shouted.

"Well, you can talk to him about that when you get back. We're trying to see if there's anything else we may have missed," she replied. "We should be back there in about twenty minutes or so," Jack told her. "Alright, see you then," she said before hanging up.

Jack put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. Once he'd backed out far enough, he put the car in drive and proceeded to the exit. While on their drive, Charlie sat staring out the backseat window and thinking of the possibilities for motive and reasons for the counting. "Aha!" he exclaimed, breaking the previously undisturbed silence. "What is it, boyo?" Jack asked, startled by his exclamation.

"What if the counting was the amount of time before the timer went off?" he asked. "What timer?" Amelia asked, confused by what he was asking. "The timer for something like an alarm. What if they only had a certain amount of time before the alarm went off?" he stated. "I would say good thinking, but Emily said they went in through the air vents and the chimney in the last two robberies," Jack explained.

"What about the first one?" Charlie asked. "She said somethin' about breaking in through the back door," Jack told him. "Oh," Charlie replied before speaking again. "Maybe that isn't what they were counting for then. I just thought that maybe the alarms would be what they needed to count for, to make sure they were out before the alarm sounded," he explained as he sunk back into his seat. "It was a good thought, just not the right one," Jack said as he glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. The rest of the car ride was silent while they all thought of the reasons for doing it and for the countdown.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jack, Charlie, and Amelia arrived back at the station and headed for the conference room where the rest of the team was located. When they walked into the conference room, Emily, Sophie, and George were all diligently working on the possibilities for why the intruders stole the specific pieces that they did and why they chose different points of entry in each robbery.

"Did you find anything new since we spoke?" Jack asked Emily as he saw what they were doing. "Unfortunately, no. I'm still puzzled as to why they used different entries for each one. I mean yes, each house was different, but I would expect that there would be something in common at each of them that they could enter and exit the same way," Emily answered.

"That is odd," Jack replied. "I wonder if the countdown that Mr. Campbell was talking about happened at every home or just the most recent. If it _did_ happen at all three, then why? What is it for and why is it so important?" Jack asked rhetorically.

"That's something we should add to the board until we figure it out," Emily responded as she looked over at George. George took the marker that was still in his hand and added the countdown to his meticulously written notes. Once he was finished, he took a step back to look over his notes again, hoping to see something he may have missed before.

For the next couple hours, the team postulated and pondered what they all had questions about- the motive, the reason for the particular artwork, the countdown, and the entries and exits. During this time, they had some food delivered and ate their dinner while continued to work hard.

They heard a knock on the door, looked over, and saw that it was Chief Clark. "Sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting. I finally have some of the statements done. So far, my boys haven't found anything in common, besides the ridiculous amounts of money they spend on online shopping," he told them. "I have them printed out if you want to look them over, but where there isn't anything in common, I don't see you needing these very much," he said as he walked over to Emily and handed her the small stack of papers.

"See Archie, if you switched to the program I told ya to then this would be done in thirty minutes and you wouldn't need three guys to look over all this stuff," Jack told his friend. "I know Jackie, but it's more money than we have in the budget, not to mention it'll put more guys out of work than there needs to be. Also, you know I don't trust that technology mumbo-jumbo. I believe in the good old-fashioned way," Chief Clark replied.

Jack shrugged and gave his friend a look. "They should have the rest of it for you in the morning. It's late so they're headed home for the night," Chief Clark told Emily. Emily looked at her watch to see what time it was. Realizing again that she still hadn't changed her watch, she looked over to George and asked, "What time is it? I keep forgetting to change this stupid thing."

"It's nine o'clock, ma'am," George replied. "It's that late already? I feel like we just got here. I guess we should head out for the night too, get some sleep so that tomorrow we can get as much done as possible," she answered.

Everyone packed up the things that they needed and headed for the cars. The hotel they were staying in was about fifteen minutes down the road. Jack and Amelia pulled up in front of the entrance so that Emily and Charlie could hop out and check them all in and they could park. Once the cars were parked, everyone else got out of the cars and grabbed their bags, including Emily's and Charlie's.

They all met in the lobby where Emily and Charlie waited, room keys in hand. Amelia and Sophie were both handed keys for room 212, Charlie and George for 213, Jack for 224, and Emily for 225. With room assignments settled, they all headed for the lifts to take them to the second floor.

After exiting the lift car, the team all headed for their rooms so that they could get a good night's sleep. In Charlie and George's room, Charlie started dumping the contents of his bag out on the bed, while George neatly and carefully took the meticulously folded clothing out of his bag.

"Charlie, why you gotta go dumpin' everything out like that? Don't you want your clothes to stay neat and not wrinkled?" George asked, horrified by the way that Charlie was unpacking his things. "They're fine, Georgie. I'll just hang 'em in the bathroom while I shower and they'll be just fine," he assured him. George grimaced and turned back to what he was doing so that he could make sure nothing was out of place.

In Amelia and Sophie's room, the girls didn't bother to unpack their things but rather threw themselves down on their beds and turned the television on to find a sappy movie to watch. Amelia flipped through the channels furiously as she looked for something the two of them would enjoy.

"These hotel tellies never have anything good on, just the same old boring crap," Amelia muttered, still flipping through the channels. "I know, you'd think they'd put something good on these channels for the price they charge," Sophie added.

Once they finally settled on something to watch, Sophie turned off the lights and tossed Amelia some snacks that she had gotten from the vending machine. The two watched the movie until it was over and then dozed off to sleep.

Jack tossed his bag in the corner of the room and immediately got ready for bed. He took off the clothes he wore to work except for his undershirt and pair of plaid boxers. Exhausted from the drive and work they had done, he yawned loudly and climbed into bed, falling asleep within minutes of lying down.

Emily unpacked her things in her room and sat down on the bed. She stared at her phone, debating whether or not to call one of her friends back home. In her head, she did the math for the time difference. They were five hours behind her, making it about 4:30 PM their time.

She decided she needed to hear a familiar voice and dialed JJ's number. The phone rang a few times before she heard her friend's voice on the other line. "Hey Em, let me call you back in a few minutes, I'm just cleaning Henry up after dinner," JJ said. Emily could hear Henry's voice in the background whining and crying to get out of his booster seat at the kitchen table. "Sure thing," Emily responded and then heard the beep of the phone hanging up.

Almost thirty minutes later, her phone rang, and she immediately answered. "Hey JJ," she said. "Hey! How have things been? I heard from Garcia that things were a little rough when you got there," JJ replied. "Yeah, there was a little trouble at the airport when I first landed. We had a case literally right when I got off the plane," Emily explained, minimalizing the situation.

"How have things been there? Any drastic changes at the Bureau? Any replacement for me yet?" she asked JJ. "No, not yet, it's a little too soon to bring someone new in, you just left. But nothing has changed much, same old, same old when it comes to cases," JJ responded.

"How is the married life treating you?" Emily asked jokingly. "Well, you know, you'd think it'd be different, but I mean nothing has really changed since the piece of paper was signed," JJ replied. "Maybe, it's because we already have Henry that we've been pretty much living as a married couple for the last four years," she added.

"How is everyone else doing? Reid isn't mad at me for leaving this time, is he? I know I didn't leave like I did before, but still, I don't want him to be upset that I'm gone again," Emily asked. "No, he's okay. I mean a little upset about the whole thing, yes, but it isn't nearly like he was the last time," JJ answered.

Emily heard the loud sobs of four-year-old Henry in the background. "Ugh, I hate to do, this but I gotta go, Em. Henry just slipped and fell and bumped his head. And Will's working, so, it's not like I can even have him deal with it," she said apologetically.

"It's okay JJ, really I get it. I'll talk to you soon okay?" Emily replied. "Alright, I'll talk to you soon," JJ said before hanging up.

Emily put her phone down and picked up the television remote. She searched for something to watch and when she didn't find anything of interest to her, she rolled over and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

At six thirty in the morning, Jack woke up before his alarm. He was always the first one up when they went away for cases. He tugged on a pair of pajama pants so that he could go wake the others. One by one, he knocked loudly on each of their doors, making sure everyone was awake and getting ready. Once he had done so, he went back to his room, got undressed, and took a much-needed shower.

At seven thirty, the team met in the lobby. Everyone was in the lobby except for Charlie, who was, as usual, late. "Goddammit, where _is_ this lad," Jack muttered in an annoyed tone as he checked his watch for the fourth time. "Don't ya know by now? Evans is never on time. Even if there was a fire or a bear chasing him, he'd still take his sweet ol' time," George replied.

A few seconds later, Charlie walked rapidly from the lifts. "It's about time," Jack said angrily as he looked at Charlie. "Sorry, I just, uh, I was in the shower for a wee bit longer than I thought," Charlie responded. "If you just took a shower, then why is your hair dry?" Sophie asked, confused. "Well, looks like pretty boy took so long because he was doin' his hair," Jack answered sarcastically.

Everyone giggled and Charlie began to blush. "Well, if I don't do it right, then it'll be a mess later. It never sits right when I let it air dry," Charlie blurted out, embarrassed. Everyone giggled again and then headed towards the cars. They took the fifteen-minute drive back to the police station where they'd began their work the day before.

Coffee in hand, Chief Clark greeted the team. "Good morning, how did everyone sleep?" he asked with a smile on his face. Everyone responded by saying "good" almost in unison. He nodded his head in the direction of the conference room and began to walk in that direction and the team followed him.

Chief Clark picked up a folder that was sitting on the table and handed it to Emily. "This is more of the credit card information. The boys are still working on it, but there's more that they're going through," he told her. "Thank you. Are there any connections between them yet?" Emily asked.

"Well, there _is_ a connection between two of the homes, but not the third. They both make payments to the same security system company. We knew that the second two, both had security systems from the initial walk-through of the crime scene, but we didn't know if it was the same company or not. As for the first house, it doesn't have a security system, so it isn't a connection between all three," Chief Clark answered.

"Hmm," Emily said as she tried to think about what other connections there could be. "Well, when they get through the rest of the statements, let us know," Emily told him. "That I will," Chief Clark replied before exiting the room.

"Is it possible that the first house could've had a security system too? Maybe through another-" Charlie asked. "There was no system in the house, Evans," Jack snapped, cutting him off. Charlie gave Jack a dirty look and then looked down at the floor. "If there was a system in the house, then we would've known about it, but based on what the police were able to determine, there wasn't currently one in the home, hence the reason they entered through the back door," Emily explained, answering Charlie's question.

"So, what I was trying to ask, and what I meant was could there have been a system in the house _before_ the break-in? And could it have been removed by the homeowners because they didn't want it anymore?" Charlie asked as he looked up at Emily. "That's a possibility that we could look into, but I'm not sure if that would be the right connection," Emily answered.

After an hour of pondering and postulating theories, Chief Clark came back into the room. "Here are the rest of the statements. It seems the first house _did_ have a security system up until about a month before the break-in. They had it removed by the company that put it in," he explained.

"Were there any other connections between the homeowners?" Emily asked. "Not that we can see. This is all we have so far. I only had them go back about six months, I can have them go back more if you'd like," Chief Clark replied. "Or I can speed up the process and run it through my software, Archie," Jack cut in.

"Whatever you'd like to do, we can do," Chief Clark responded with a shrug. "How fast do you think you can have it done?" Emily asked Jack. "Give me about an hour and I can have the last two years gone through," he answered.

Jack made his way over to his computer, sat down, and began typing away. While he did that, the rest of the team sat around the table and went over all the details they already knew. "If there's another connection, could it possibly be the same cable company, electric company, water company..." Amelia's voice trailed off.

"Yes, they could've had a visit from the same utility company that serviced something in their home, but would it be the same people that would be servicing them, since they were all in different countries," Emily responded.

Amelia nodded in agreement and crossed that theory off her in-head list. Sophie fiddled with the pencil in her hand as she thought of other ways the intruders could've canvassed the houses. "What if they were just randomly driving up and down streets? They could've pretended to be some sort of company so that they didn't raise any suspicions about a random car driving around the neighborhoods. Or they could've just been a random car driving around random neighborhoods," Sophie proposed.

"That could be what happened. Do we know if anyone saw a suspicious vehicle driving around or if they saw any suspicious persons walking around or looking at the homes?" Emily asked. Everyone shook their heads no. "I'll go ask the Chief," Charlie said as he got up.

"Now, if there was someone just driving around the neighborhoods or looking at the outside of houses, how would they know where the collections were housed? Also, how would they know where the vents came out in the Campbell's home? They didn't just figure that out while they were in the vents. And what about the first home? How did they know that there was no security system in the home without being in the home?" George questioned.

"George is right," Emily stated reluctantly. "If they didn't have access inside the home, then they wouldn't have known what they did in order to get inside," she explained.

Charlie came back into the room and plopped himself into his chair. He stretched his legs out, crossed one foot over the other and put his hands behind his head. "Chief said no one reported any strange vehicles in the neighborhood," he told them. "We just ruled that one out. With that theory, they wouldn't know the inner workings of the houses," Emily relayed what they had just discussed to him.

"So, we're back to square one, huh?" Charlie asked, disappointed by the lack of answers that they had. "I guess so," Sophie replied, sounding defeated. "Our best theory, for now, is the visit from the utility company, but even then there are _still_ some issues with that theory," Emily added.

George walked over to the list he'd made on the board of the theories they'd discussed and crossed out the ones they ruled out and put a question mark next to the one they said was their best guess for the time being. He fidgeted with the marker in his hand while he thought of other theories that might fit better than the utility company one.

Suddenly, Chief Clark rushed into the room. "We just got a call from another collector. He said he's been away on a trip for the past six weeks and he just came home to find his private collection of John D. Batten paintings gone. He also said he doesn't know how they got into the home because he has a security system with cameras that he uses, especially, when he goes away on his trips. I just sent some officers over there to check everything out and to pull the footage from the security cameras. If you'd like to head over there too then I can have one of my blokes bring you over," he told them.

Emily looked over at Jack who had looked up from what he was doing on his computer as soon as Chief Clark walked in. "You guys go look at that and I'll stay here and finish this. By the time you get through over there, I should have this done," he told her.

"Alright, let's get over there now so we can see what's going on," Emily stated. Everyone on the team, minus Jack, followed Chief Clark out of the conference room and for their car.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Upon their arrival at the crime scene, they were met by a frantic homeowner outside yelling at the police officers. "You say you're lookin' for the guy who did this?! Bollocks! You haven't done a damn thing since ya got here. All you've done is stand around and buggar all!" he yelled at one of the officers. The officer, who was trying very hard not to yell back at the man, just shook his head and walked away before he said anything in response that would get him into trouble.

Emily, Charlie, Sophie, George, and Amelia climbed out of the vehicle and headed towards the crime scene. Amelia and Emily went in the direction of the distressed homeowner, while Charlie, George, and Sophie headed inside. As they made their way over to the homeowner, who was still yelling at anyone who came in his direction, they were stopped by one of the police officers. "I wouldn't go over there if I were you. He's lost his marbles. Yellin' at anyone who comes near him. Like we were the ones who stole his lousy artwork. Psh," he said, annoyed.

He walked away from them and towards some other officers who were standing in the driveway. Amelia and Emily looked at each other, shrugged, and began walking in his direction again. "And who might you be, huh? Someone else who's come to ignore me?" the homeowner asked. "My name is Emily Prentiss. I'm the chief of the London Interpol office. And this is Agent Amelia Roberts. We're here to help figure out who took your artwork. We've been working on a case where three other homes had their pieces stolen from their private collections as well. We think the same people who stole their artwork may have stolen yours," Emily explained in a calm voice.

The homeowner suddenly dropped the rage he'd been taking out on the other officers when he realized that they were there to actually do something. He extended his hand and introduced himself. "My name's Hugo Moore. Sorry, I've been a little on edge since we got back from our trip. I wasn't expecting to arrive home and have some of my best artwork to be gone," he said in a calmer tone than before.

"Mr. Moore was there anyone that you had to take care of your house while you were gone? Anyone who might've seen something or someone suspicious?" Amelia asked.

"My sister, Florence. She came by once a week to get the mail and make sure everything was as it should be. She would've known if someone broke in because we have a security system with cameras. It was supposed to be one of the best high tech systems money can buy. If anyone was snooping around here it should be on those cameras. Hell, you should be able to see the bastards on the damn thing the day they broke in," Hugo replied.

Amelia pulled out her phone and typed in the notes section "Florence." "What is your sister's last name? Just so we have it in case we need to ask her some questions," Amelia asked him. "King. Florence King," he told her. Amelia added the last name, "King" to her notes and put her phone back into her pocket.

Just then a curly brown-haired little boy with big blue eyes, no more than six, came running out of the house and latched onto Hugo's side. "Mummy said the man inside needs to talk to you about the bad guys," his little voice squeaked out before he buried his face in his dad's pant leg.

Hugo put his hand on his son's head and gently ran his fingers through his curly locks. "Alright, sport. Can you say hello to the nice agents who are going to help us catch the bad guys?" he asked his son. The little boy rubbed his head on his dad's leg and did not respond to his father.

Emily brought herself down to his level so that he wouldn't be as intimidated by another strange person in his house. "Hi, my name's Emily. I know this must be very scary for you with all these people that you don't know in your house, huh?" she asked him in a soft voice.

The little boy peeked over at her with one eye and kept the other one up against his dad's leg. After a moment, he nodded his head, answering her question. "It's okay, sport, she's just here to help," his father reassured him. The little boy, now more comfortable by his father's reassurance, introduced himself to the agents that were standing in front of him. "My name is Riley," he told them in his squeaky little voice. "It's nice to meet you, Riley. Let me guess, you must be seven," Emily replied with a big smile on her face.

Riley giggled and corrected her. "No, I'm only six," he responded through the giggles. "Riley, do you want to show Emily and her friend Amelia where mummy is inside?" Hugo asked him. "Okay!" Riley answered and began running towards the house, "This way!" he called. Emily and Amelia followed little Riley up the front steps and into the house. He led them down a long hallway and down a flight of stairs.

Once they reached the gallery, he pointed over to a woman in her forties with faded blonde hair. She was a heavier woman with a round face. "Mummy! Mummy!" Riley yelled as he ran over towards his mother. "What is it, baby?" she asked her son as she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him to her side.

"These are the good guys, the ones that are gonna help us catch the bad guys," he told his mother. "I'm Emily Prentiss, chief of the London Interpol office, and this is Agent Amelia Roberts," Emily introduced them. "I'm Matilda," the woman replied as she reached out her hand. Emily shook her hand and so did Amelia.

"We spoke with your husband outside. He said that you were on vacation at the time of the break-in and that your sister-in-law was the one who was looking after the house," Emily stated. "Yes, that is correct. We were out of the country on a family vacation and were staying at our vacation home in France when it happened. His sister didn't come every day, just once a week to collect the mail and check in on everything," she explained.

"And to feed Bubbles!" Riley interjected. "And who might Bubbles be?" Amelia asked with a smile. "That's my fish. He's a blue Beta fish with a big tail!" Riley told her in an enthusiastic voice. "Ooohh, can I see him?" Amelia asked in an attempt to get him away from his mother so he wasn't any more of a distraction to her and Emily's conversation. "Yeah! Come on!" he replied as he started to run towards the stairs.

"Be careful, sweetheart. Don't run in the house," Matilda called. She watched him walk up the stairs with Amelia and then turned back to Emily to continue their conversation. "Did you have anyone come to look at anything in the house before you went away? Like a repairman, or someone like the telephone company?"

"Not that I can think of," Matilda replied as she furrowed her brow and stared off while she tried to think. "The last time we had someone come out, it was the security company a few months ago. There was a problem with one of the cameras, so they came to fix it. We haven't had any problems since they replaced it," she added.

"What's the name of the security company that you use?" Emily asked. "Fetch Security," Matilda answered. Emily pulled out her phone and wrote down the security company's name.

"Tilly? Tilly, are you down there?" Emily and Matilda heard Hugo call from upstairs. "Yes, dear, I'm down here," Matilda hollered back. Hugo made his way down the stairs and met Emily and Matilda in the middle of the gallery.

"I was just asking your wife about the security company you have. She said that they came out to fix one of the cameras that you have. Do you remember that day? Was there anything that stood out to you? Any people that seemed suspicious?" Emily asked.

Hugo scratched his head while he thought back to that day. "I think I was out of town that day. I had a work meeting. I remember making the appointment, but I don't remember being here when they came," he told her.

"I think I remember," Matilda spoke up. "I don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary. Only that one of the employees asked to use the bathroom and when he was done he headed in the opposite direction. He said he had to check the wiring in the back part of the house but the camera that needed to be fixed was nowhere near that part of the house. I didn't think anything of it, because I don't really know anything about wiring and so I wasn't going to question him because I figure he must know more than I do," she explained.

Emily diligently noted everything Matilda explained and as she started to ask her if she remembered the repair man's name, George came rushing over.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"I think we may have found something," George told her. Emily followed him over to where Sophie and Charlie were standing. "Initially, we were confused because we didn't know where they came in from. There aren't any vents or chimneys for the intruders to come in from. Then we found this in the control panel to the security system. In Charlie's hands was a small device.

"It looks to me like it's a device they put in there to hack into the thing," George stated his idea out loud. "If they put this into the security system when they were here working on it, then they would've been able to hack in remotely and shut down the system any time they wanted to," he added.

"Is it possible that the other systems might have them too, that we didn't see?" Emily asked. "I don't believe they checked the other systems. I can go call the station to ask Chief Clark," Charlie responded.

"That's a good idea. You go do that and let me know what he says," Emily replied. Charlie walked away from the group as he dialed the station number and put his phone to his ear. "Do we know what pieces were stolen from this collection? Was Mrs. Moore able to give you a list?" Emily asked Sophie and George.

"Yes, I have it right here," Sophie answered as she handed a paper list to Emily. Emily quickly glanced at the list and counted how many pieces were missing. She then put the list in her pocket with her phone so she wouldn't lose it. "Is there anything else we need to do here or can we head back to the station? I have some ideas I want to work out on the board," George asked, eager to work out his ideas.

Emily paused for a moment as she thought of other things that they may need to do before leaving the crime scene. "I don't think we have anything else that needs to be done right now, so, yes I think we can go back to the station," Emily replied.

George and Sophie nodded and went to make sure they had everything, including Amelia who was upstairs being held captive by an enthusiastic six-year-old. As they walked away, Charlie walked towards Emily, now off the phone. "He said they didn't look at any of the other security systems because they didn't think that they messed with them. He's headed over to the Campbell's to check out their system now and said he was going to call over to the Dublin police so they can check the security system over there," Charlie reported.

"Okay, great. We're going to head back to the station now, so we can add this new information to what we already have. Make sure you have everything before we go," Emily told him. Charlie gave her a nod and jogged up the stairs. Emily said goodbye to Matilda and Hugo and headed in the direction of the car. By the time she got to the car, everyone else was already there waiting for her.

The car ride back to the station was silent, everyone contemplating theories. Once they arrived, George high-tailed it for the conference room as everyone else followed slowly behind. Eager to get his theory out, George furiously scribbled on the whiteboard. As fast as he was writing, he made sure that his writing was meticulous and legible.

When he was done, he took a step back to admire what he had gotten out of his head and onto the board. The others looked at his theory as they stood behind him. "So how did they get the devices onto the other security systems?" Sophie asked. "They must've had a visit from the security company and they did it then, that is if they have the same security company," George responded.

"Jack, how's it going on your end? Did you find anything?" Emily called over to him. "I'm just about finished. I can cross reference things once it's done if you want me to," he replied. "Can you check to see if there are payments to Fetch Security Company in any of the statements? That's the company that the Moore's are using," Emily asked.

Jack typed away on his computer and a couple of minutes later came back with a response. "Yes, they all do make payments to Fetch. And it looks like the very first home was making payments to them too, until the payments suddenly stopped about eight months ago," Jack declared.

"They must've had the system removed," Amelia stated and then paused. "And if they had the system removed, the intruders could've been the ones who removed it. That's how they'd know it wouldn't go off when they went in through the back door," it seemed her theory was spewing out of her mouth.

"But how would the same employees be at the service calls if they were in different countries?" George countered. "Well, I think there are a few possibilities there," Charlie responded. George turned his attention away from the board and towards Charlie to hear what he had to say.

"First of all, all of the break-ins had some tie to this company, so we know that there has to be at least one employee on the team of intruders. There has to be more than one, which we know from Campbell's account of what happened. Also, if there is some sort of hacking then someone has to be controlling that while the others collect the artwork. And there is no way that one person is able to move that quickly to do so," Charlie began.

"So what about the fact that they're crossing over country lines?" George interjected. "I was getting to that," Charlie replied.

"Now because this individual or individuals work for the company that is connected to all of the crime scenes, this means one of two things. Either the individual or individuals are transferring from country to country _or_ if there's more than one they each work for a different office each in a different country," he concluded.

"If they were transferring offices then it would be very easy to trace them," George stated. "And if they all were working in different countries, then how do they know each other?" he asked.

Charlie pushed himself back against the wall and crossed his arms. He stared at the board in thought before speaking again. There was a silence in the room as everyone else also pondered the response to George's question.

After what seemed like hours, Amelia finally broke the silence. "I guess there are a few possibilities here," she began. "If they all worked in the same office, then there is a likelihood that they met through working together. There is also a chance that they could've been transferred due to company reasons. The company may have needed their expertise in another office, they could've gotten promoted so it prompted a move..." she trailed off.

"What about the other possibilities?" Sophie asked. "There is another possibility that they could've met online somehow. If they all had an interest in the same artwork, then they could've met through a chat room and sparked their plans to steal the items from there. In this instance, they could work for different offices which would allow them to have easy access to these homes," Amelia explained.

"But what is the need for the artwork? What would prompt them to steal all the art from the same artist? I don't buy the idea that they wanted it so they took it," Jack asked.

"What are you thinking, Jack?" Emily asked as she turned to look at him. "I think there might be some kind of ringleader. Someone who is running this crew or could be paying them to do this. What if there was someone who approached them on this site and said he would pay them a large sum of money if they stole all these pieces so he could make something like a super collection?" Jack responded.

"You think someone wants the artwork for himself and that the intruders are his henchmen?" Emily asked.

"Something like that, yes," Jack answered. "Can you search through the service tickets and see who was on the service calls to each of the homes? Once you do that then search local chat rooms and fan pages for John D. Batten and see if you get the same people," Emily ordered.

Just then, Chief Clark entered the conference room. "I just got off the phone with Dublin. They looked at the system and found a device in it. It's being sent to us now so we can compare, but I think that it's going to be the same," he told them.

"Great. Let me know when that gets here. Also, we think we may know how the intruders were able to respond to service calls at each of the homes. Jack is running some things through the system now. I'll let you know when we have something," Emily replied.

Chief Clark gave her a nod and then left the team to their work.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The team sat in silence for a little while, while Jack was looking at fan websites and conversations between members of those sites. Jack broke the silence with an "Aha!" and the sound of the chair hitting the wall as he jumped out of his seat.

"I take it you found something," Emily reacted. "Yes, there are a few people in particular that have had some interesting conversations on here. Nothing about the theft itself but about their mutual interest. I have their usernames and I'm going to hack into their system to find their-" Suddenly, Jack was interrupted by the abrupt blackout that they now found themselves in.

"What in the bloody hell?" Jack let out a loud comment to himself. He fumbled around on his desk as he looked for his phone and once he found it, turned the flashlight on. As he was looking for his phone, the rest of the team was also looking for theirs or something they could use as an alternate light source.

Chief Clark made his way back into the office with a headlamp on his head. "Sorry about that. It seems some drunken git slammed into a telephone pole and now the whole area doesn't have power. The transformer exploded because of it too. I don't know what he was thinkin'," Chief Clark apologized as he shook his head.

"He made a real cock up, didn't he?" Charlie scoffed.

"Can it, you," Jack snapped at him, aggravated by the events that just occurred. "How come the backup generator hasn't kicked in yet, Archie?" Jack asked, trying not to lash out due to his aggravation.

"The what?" Chief Clark asked, confused. "Oh, don't tell me you don't have a backup generator, Archie. What'd I tell ya, you have to have one of those in case of emergency," Jack replied, getting angrier by the second.

"Jackie, I told you, I don't trust all that technology crap. As you can see, it isn't doing us any good right now," Chief Clark said with a shrug.

"How do you expect to work without any lights? Without any systems, any anything?" Jack asked, practically yelling at his friend. "I'll go 'n get you some candles from the closet. That should be enough light for ya for now," Chief Clark responded and began to head towards the door.

"Archie, I can't do anything with candles. I was about to hack into a system when the power cut out. I can't do that with candles," Jack snapped.

"Seeing that the power probably won't be back on for a while and it's late, I think it's time we call it a night. Let's get something to eat and head back to the hotel so we can get some rest," Emily interjected.

An awkward silence filled the room as everyone tried not to step on Jack's toes. They collected their things and headed for the cars. As they were walking down the hallway, they were stopped by officers walking by with a heavily intoxicated man in handcuffs who was kicking and screaming and attempting to break free of their firm holds on his arms.

"He's really off his trolley, aye?" Charlie laughed at the sight of the man. Amelia backhanded him in the arm hard effectively silencing him. "Ow. What was that for?" he whined as he rubbed his arm. "Do you wanna make him even angrier?" she asked as she shot him an annoyed look. He shrugged and looked away.

Once the path was clear, they proceeded for the cars. Before they got into the cars, Emily asked, "So what do we want to do for dinner? Take out? A sit-down meal?"

"It doesn't matter to me. I'm not picky," Amelia replied. "George, any ideas?" Emily asked. "As long as it isn't pizza again," he answered. "Oh, I know. Adil's!" Charlie cut in. "It isn't too far and their seafood platter is the best I've ever had! I haven't been there in forever," he added excitedly.

"Any objections?" Emily asked. Everyone shook their head in response to her question. "Jack, is that okay with you?" she asked the awfully quiet individual. He looked up now seeming less agitated than before. "Adil's is one of my favorites, I'm never gonna turn it down," he replied as he cracked a smile.

"Alright, Adil's it is then. I'm going to need some suggestions as to what's good there. I've never been," Emily admitted.

After receiving looks of shock, Emily corralled them all into the cars. The car ride there was filled with their favorite dishes and how delicious everything on the menu was. They all agreed that the table naan was the best appetizer on the menu. There wasn't a quiet moment from the time they left the station until they pulled into the parking lot.

After a brief wait time, they were seated and ordered drinks. They all had different kinds of drinks ranging from Diet Coke to Mango Juice to Sparkling Mineral Water.

They all ordered a slew of different items off the menu. Charlie got his declared favorite, the Seafood Platter. Jack decided to try something different and ordered the Balti Lamb Desi. Amelia and Sophie both ordered the same dish, the Balti Sabzi Khaas. George, being the creature of habit that he is, ordered the same as he would any other time they went there, the Balti Makhan Chicken. And Emily, never having been there, ordered the Balti Tropical.

While they waited for their meals, the girls thought it would be a good time to ask Emily how her moving in was going. "Have you gotten everything all unpacked yet?" Sophie asked her. "No, I have all my bags all over the place. I've been taking what I need out of them as I go, but I just haven't had the time to unpack them all just yet.

"Well, if you want any help getting everything all organized, we usually have a few days off in between cases and where these two cases were back-to-back we might have even more than we usually do so Amelia and I were talking and would be more than happy to come over there and help you out. And if you'd like we can show you around London since it's been a while since you've been here," Sophie replied and Amelia nodded in agreement.

"That would be great, I'd love a little company. And it'll be nice to have a guide around London, it can get confusing, you know?" she said. They nodded and began talking about different places they could visit on their days off. Shortly after, their meals came out and they continued their talk about their favorite locations around the city while they ate.`

With full bellies, everyone headed back for the cars and the hotel. The car ride from the restaurant to the hotel was the opposite of the ride there-extremely quiet. Everyone was tired and satisfied with the meals they'd devoured. Even Jack, who was in such a bad mood because of the power outage, was in a much better mood after having dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. Exhausted, they all climbed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Up bright and early, as usual, Jack threw on a shirt and tugged on some pants before opening the curtains in the room. He stood by the window and enjoyed the sun shining on his face. He walked down to the main lobby to get a copy of the newspaper and a cup of coffee. Coffee and paper in hand, he made his way back up to his room. He put himself in the chair closest to the window and had his coffee while he read the paper.

Emily found herself waking up later than usual. She yawned, looked at the time on her phone, and, once she realized she was up later than she planned, she practically jumped out of bed and hustled into the shower. Once she was showered, she got herself ready for the long day ahead.

Charlie was awoken by the pillow that hit him in the face. "What the-" he blurted out, startled. He identified the object that'd been hurled at his head and looked over at George, who then replied, "Maybe if you didn't snore so loud, I wouldn't have had to do that."

Charlie shook his head and reached for his phone. Glued to his phone, he started for the bathroom and found himself bumping into the edge of the bed and then the doorframe. George rolled his eyes and turned back to the book he was reading.

Sophie and Amelia found themselves waking at almost the same exact time and doing almost the same exact things. They sat on their phones for about fifteen minutes before Amelia decided it was time to get herself ready. Sophie waited another five minutes before she too began getting ready.

At about eight-thirty, the team all met downstairs in the lobby. Once everyone was there, they decided it was time to head to the station.

Jack was the first one inside, eager to finish what he'd started the day before. "Is she back up and runnin', Archie?" Jack asked as he crossed the threshold. "Aye. Came back on about two-thirty this mornin'," Archie responded as he made his way towards his friend. "Good. Maybe next time you'll listen to me when I say the stuff that you call hogwash is a good idea," Jack replied and gave his friend a look.

Archie smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the conference room. "C'mon, let's go figure out who these bastards are so we can catch 'em," he said. Jack nodded in agreement and began heading for the conference room. The team, not far behind him, followed him.

Jack immediately booted up the computer to finish where he'd left off the day before. Luckily, he'd made notes on his notepad of the usernames so that it'd be easier for him once he'd hacked into the database. While he did this, the rest of the team unpacked their things while they made sure they had all their ducks in a row.

"I got 'em," Jack announced. "There's four of 'em. Well, five if you count the one orchestrating the whole thing," he added. "Their names are Angus Cunningham, Douglas MacClellan, Killian O' Doherty, and Rory Fitzgerald. The ringleader is Gordan Thorburn," he told them.

"Good work. Run their names through the employee database at Fetch Security and then compare them to the service tickets and let me know what you find," Emily replied.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

After a few minutes of furiously typing away on the computer, Jack poked his head up from behind the monitor. "I've got something," he announced.

"What's that?" Emily asked. "It appears that only two of the men from those messages work for the company," he answered. "Who are they?" she asked in reply. "Killian O'Doherty and Douglas MacClellan. The other three have no relation to the company at all. Gordon Thorburn does have a record for fraud and theft. He was supposed to do sixteen years for both but got out after eight on good behavior. He's still on probation, but if he isn't the one physically robbing the homes, he'll think we have nothing on him," he explained.

"But if he isn't actually robbing the homes, how can we charge him?" Charlie interjected. "If he has the artwork in his possession, then we have proof that he was in charge of the whole affair and that he was orchestrating it from behind closed doors. We also have the messages between the two and I'm sure if we pulled text message transcripts, we can prove it too. Not to mention, I'm sure with the technology they have nowadays they are recording our phone calls by now," Jack remarked sarcastically.

"What do you mean they record our phone calls? Is that like all of our phone calls? I don't need them hearing what I talk about with other people," Charlie interrogated him, panicked. "Relax, Evans, I'm just jokin' with ya," Jack laughed.

Charlie, who was now the same shade of red as Amelia's sweater, gave a sigh of relief. "Phew, I thought you were serious there for a second. Don't need the government hearin' what I talk about," Charlie laughed, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, what kind of phone conversations are _you_ having," Sophie laughed. Charlie smiled nervously and shrugged as he told her, "I don't know. Maybe I just don't want the government hearing what I tell my mum or my sister."

Sophie gave him a look and replied, "Sure," in a sarcastic tone. Everyone laughed and then turned back to Jack. "So how do the other two fit into the mix?" Emily asked.

"Cunningham and Fitzgerald both have records for petty theft, but nothing this big. Thorburn must've recruited them both as he did the others to help them break into the homes with the systems. By recruiting the two that work for the company he knew he'd have people who knew what they were dealing with. And, by working on the systems on service calls they were able to not only put the devices into the systems, but also see what they were dealing with when it came to the actual break-in," Jack explained.

"And both O'Doherty and MacClellan worked for different offices?" Emily inquired. "Yes, O'Doherty in the Dublin office and MacClellan in the Edinburgh office. However, they both just transferred to the Birmingham office about a month ago," he read from the screen in front of him.

"Good work. Do we have addresses on any of them?" Emily replied. "I'm looking now, but it looks like since they transferred here they must be paying cash for wherever they're staying now. I believe Thorburn is still staying at his listed address because he's on probation still and if he isn't then there's another thing we can stick to him," Jack responded.

"Great. Where is his address? Is it here in England or elsewhere?" she asked. "He's living in Scotland at the moment. I'll call over to local authorities there and have them pick him up and have them see what they can get out of him," he answered. Emily gave a nod of approval and Jack picked up the phone, dialed a number, and put the phone to his ear.

While Jack made the phone calls, Emily gave assignments to the rest of the team. "George and Charlie, I want you two to head down to Fetch Security's Birmingham office and see what information you can get on O'Doherty and MacClellan. Sophie, you talk to Chief Clark and get their photos out there so we can see if anyone knows where they're staying or if they know more information than we know. Amelia, I'm going to get some photos from Jack of all of these men and we're going to head over to the Campbell's and the Moore's to see if these were the men that came to their homes on the day the security company came or if any of them look familiar at all," Emily ordered.

The team took what they needed and headed out on their assignments, while Jack stayed at the office to complete the things he was tasked with doing.

Sophie walked out of the conference room and headed for Chief Clark's office. She walked down the long hallway took a right and headed down a shorter hallway. Once she reached the office door that was marked with the Chief's name, she politely knocked.

"Come in," she heard from the other side of the door. "Hi, Sir. I have some photos of the men we believe are the intruders. Emily asked if you could put them out on the news and such so that the public knows who we're looking for and we might have some better clues as to where they may be or where they may be staying," she explained.

"Oh, good. Let me see those," he replied as he motioned to the pictures in her hands. She handed him the photos and he took a good look at all five of them. "That last one, Gordon Thorburn, might not be in England at all. Jack is calling over to the Edinburgh police to see if they can pick him up. We think he's the leader of the group. These two, O'Doherty and MacClellan, are employees for the security company. O'Doherty was working in the Dublin office and MacClellan in the Edinburgh office but they both transferred within the last month to the Birmingham office. The other two, Fitzgerald and Cunningham, aren't associated with the company at all. They both have been arrested before for petty theft," she told him.

"And how do you know they're all connected?" he asked her. "There are private messages on a fan website for John D. Batten between all of them. It doesn't get into any kind of detail about actually committing the theft itself, but they do mention something along the lines of a 'super collection' which we're assuming is all the artwork from this one collection," she answered.

"Uh huh," he replied as he flipped through the photos another time. "I'll get these to my contact and they'll be all over the next newscast today," he added as he headed back for his desk. "Thank you, Sir," she said before walking out of the room.

Sophie headed back for the conference room to wait for the others to return and to see what else she could help Jack with in the meantime. "Any luck with Thorburn?" she asked Jack as she walked back into the room.

"They said they're going to head by his place and see what they can do," he told her. "Is there anything I can help you with? I already talked to the chief and he's going to do what he can with the photos," she asked.

Jack thought for a minute, thinking of what he could have her help him do. "I have to sift through these text messages, which is quite boring, but if you're up for it, it'd be a big help," he replied. "Sure, I'd rather be helpful than just sitting around," she answered as she rolled a chair over to his desk. Jack handed her a stack of paper which contained printouts of text messages between all five of the suspects.

"I've narrowed down their messages to anything that had to do with artwork or anything that could be used as a code for it. The software only does so much when it comes to this, so we just have to look them over and see if there's any crystal-clear evidence that ties them to the theft," he explained.

Sophie nodded, picked up some of the paper and began skimming the messages. The two sat in silence for over an hour, reading message after message to see what could tie them to the thefts and what messages were irrelevant. After some time, Sophie spoke up. "I think I got something," she declared.

"What's that?" Jack asked. "It says 'deliver the package to the drop off at 1800 three days from today. I will retrieve it and keep it in storage until the time comes.' I'm assuming the package has to do with some of the artwork and the storage, well I'm not sure where he'd be storing them. If he's avoiding getting caught, I'm sure he's not going to store it in his own home, so he must have some secondary location somewhere else," she reported.

Jack took the paper with the message on it from her, highlighted that particular message and put it into a folder separate from the other meaningless papers. The two turned back to their piles and sifted through the rest of the messages, hoping to find more evidence within them.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Are you off your rocker, Charlie? My God, who taught you how to drive?" George shouted with a horrified look on his face from the passenger seat as he clenched the grab handle. "Oh, Georgie, this is how you're supposed to drive. You get there much faster this way," Charlie replied with a big grin on his face.

"Because nearly taking out the old woman trying to cross the road is the best driving procedure," George muttered sarcastically under his breath. Since they'd left the station, Charlie had been driving how he usually did, recklessly and out of control. George tensely sat beside him, cringing every time he took a hard turn or almost hit something.

They arrived at the security system's Birmingham headquarters, surprisingly unscathed. George nearly jumped out of the car before Charlie put it into park. He was already halfway to the main doors when Charlie got out of the car.

Charlie jogged in George's direction in order to catch up with him. The building was tall with large glass doors and windows that let the natural light inside. When they walked through the doors, there was a small desk in the expansive, high ceilinged lobby with a young blonde woman sitting behind it. "May I help you gentlemen?" she asked them as she looked up from the computer screen in front of her.

"Hello there, my name is Agent Evans from Interpol," Charlie greeted her as he pulled out his badge and showed it to her. "We are here looking for some information on a couple of employees that work here. Do you know who we would be able to speak to about that?" Charlie asked with a bright smile on his face.

"Of course, let me call up to Mr. Bennett's office and see if he's available. He's in charge of all the employees that come in and out of this branch of the company," she replied cheerfully. "Thanks, love," Charlie gave her another big smile, making her blush. She dialed a number on her corded phone and then held it to her ear.

"Hello, Sir, I have a couple of agents here from Interpol that would like to speak with you about a couple of employees," she paused. "Uh huh...uh huh...okay, Sir, I'll let them know," she said before she hung up the phone. "Mr. Bennett's office is on the fifth floor. Head down this corridor here," she pointed. "And then take the lifts on your left up to level five. Once you get there, there'll be another receptionist and if you let them know who you are and who you're here to see then she'll be able to guide you to his office and let him know that you're up there," she explained.

"Thank you, Miss…?" Charlie trailed off, hinting that he didn't know her name. "Scarlett, Scarlett Coleman," she blushed and tucked the piece of hair that was in her face behind her ear. Charlie slipped one of his business cards onto the desk and gave her a smile before they walked away. George rolled his eyes and then thanked the young woman before heading towards the lifts.

Charlie pressed the top button and took a step back. "What was that all about?" George asked him, referring to the flirtatious exchange he'd just witnessed between Charlie and the receptionist. "What, Georgie, you didn't think she was hot?" Charlie replied. George rolled his eyes. "Can you not be randy for once in your life?" he muttered, loud enough for Charlie to hear.

Charlie ignored him and looked up at lights that indicated what floor the lift was on. Within a minute, the lift dinged and the doors to their left flew open. They both stepped into the car and Charlie pressed the button for the fifth floor. They stood in silence as the lift ascended. Once they reached their desired floor, the lift dinged again and the doors opened in front of them.

The two stepped out into the small lobby area and were greeted by an older woman sitting behind a desk. "Can I help you two boys?" she asked the two agents. "Yes, I'm Agent Jones and this is Agent Evans. We're with Interpol and are here to speak with Mr. Bennett," George explained as he pulled out his badge to show her. She looked at his badge and then picked up her phone. "Sir, there are some agents here to see you," she spoke into the phone. After a brief pause, she spoke again. "Very well, Sir, I'll let them know," she replied before she hung up the phone.

"He's just finishing up with a few things and then he'll be with you. You can take a seat over there," she pointed to a small seating area over in the corner. "Thank you, Ma'am," George replied. They walked over to the seating area to sit down. Charlie picked up a magazine off the table and began flipping through it while George picked up a brochure for the company and began to read through it.

After a few minutes, a middle-aged man came through the large glass doors. "You must be the agents from Interpol. I'm Knox Bennett. I was told you're here to speak with me about some employees?" he said, extending his hand. The two agents shook his hand and George introduced them both. "My name is Agent Jones and this is Agent Evans. We're conducting an investigation and believe a couple of your employees might be involved," he explained. "I see. Why don't we step into my office to discuss this?" Knox suggested.

The two agents nodded and followed him through the glass doors and down a short hallway. They entered into a large office with a large oak desk that had a tall black leather chair behind it. They sat down in the two armchairs in front of the desk. Knox made his way to the other side of the desk and sat down also. "What can I do for you?" he asked them as he pulled himself closer to the desk and folded his hands and placed them on the desk.

George pulled a file out of his leather briefcase. He flipped the folder open and placed two photos onto the desk in front of Knox. "This is Killian O'Doherty and this is Douglas MacClellan. They both are employed at your company and recently both transferred to the Birmingham office from the Dublin and Edinburgh offices," he explained.

"Ah, yes. I recognize the names. I processed their transfers not too long ago. We haven't had too many people requesting to transfer, so I should be able to find their files fairly quickly," Knox replied as he slid his chair back and began flipping through files in the file cabinet to the right of his desk.

After a minute he pulled out one file and then a few seconds later, another. "Here they are," he stated as he slid back to his desk. "Wonderful. Do you happen to have their addresses by any chance?" George asked him. "Yes. Well, they both live at Chadbrook Crest, Birmingham B15 3RL. Here let me write this down for you," he said as he grabbed a pen and paper from the side of the desk. He scribbled down the address and added the apartment number as well.

He tore off the paper from the notepad and handed it to George who thanked him. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked. "I think that's all for now," George replied. "Very well, if you need anything else don't hesitate to pick up the phone and give me a call," he told them and handed George his business card.

"That's my personal phone so you'll be able to get me right away without having to speak with anyone else," he told George. George nodded and then Knox showed them back to the lobby. They said goodbye and then turned to the lifts and waited for one to arrive.

Once they were outside, Charlie called Emily to let her know what they'd found out from Knox. The phone rang a few times and then he heard Emily's voice on the other line. "Hi, we have an address for O'Doherty and MacClellan. They both live in the same apartment. I wouldn't be surprised if the other two live there too," he told her. "Great, we're just about to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Campbell right now. Head back to the station and we'll meet you there when we're through," she told him. "Will do. See you then," he replied before he hung up the phone.

Charlie got into the car and found George already there waiting for him. He was sitting in the passenger seat and already had his hand on the grab bar, trying to keep calm even though he knew that they were in for another wild ride. Charlie put the key in the ignition, turned the car on, and then began to drive away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Emily and Amelia arrived at the Campbell's home and immediately headed for the front door. Emily knocked and after a few seconds were greeted by Mrs. Campbell. "Hello, what can I do for you ladies?" she asked. "Hi, Mrs. Campbell. We have a lead in the case and need to ask your husband a few more questions," Emily explained. "Come in, come in. John is resting, but I'll let him know you're here," Mrs. Campbell led them into a small living room. She headed upstairs to wake her husband and Emily and Amelia sat down on the couch while they waited for her to return. A few minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell made their way downstairs.

They made their way into the small living room that Emily and Amelia were sitting in and sat on the couch opposite of the agents. "My wife told me you have some more information in the case. What can I do for you?" he asked them. Amelia placed the file that she was holding on the table and opened it up. She took each of the four photos from the file and spread them out on the coffee table. "Do you recognize any of these men?" Emily asked the couple.

The couple studied the photos for a long minute before both of them almost jumped at one of the photos. "This one. I remember this one. He was here when the security company came to fix the control panel. He doesn't have something to do with this does he?" Mrs. Campbell asked.

"Unfortunately, all of these men are involved. We believe that the man you recognize and this man," Emily pointed to the photo on the end, "work for the security company and placed a device into your system so that they could break in, later on, to steal the artwork from your collection. The other two men don't work for the company, however, they, too, are involved. All four of the men broke into your home the night you were assaulted," she explained.

"Wait, I only recall three men that night. I know they beat me up and knocked me out, but I know for sure that there were only _three_ of them," Mr. Campbell insisted. "You said you remember the men were counting down?" Amelia asked him. "Yes, they were. All of them," he replied. "Well, we believe that one of the men was inside a van or a car and the device they placed inside of the control panel of the system in your home aided them in hacking into the system so that they could just walk right in the front door," she explained.

"I thought they went in through the vents?" Mrs. Campbell interjected. "That's what we thought at first, but after further examination of the new evidence, we were able to determine that that was a rouse. The device interrupted the signal from the company and allowed them to hack into it. It only worked for a short period of time, hence the countdown," Amelia explained.

"I see," Mr. Campbell responded as he stroked his chin. "Is there anything else you need from us?" Mrs. Campbell asked. "No, that's all we needed to know. Thank you for your time," Emily replied as she and Amelia stood up and headed for the door. Mrs. Campbell followed not far behind and showed them out.

The two said goodbye and headed for the car. Once they were in the car, they put the Moores' address into the GPS and began their drive. After about twenty minutes, they reached the Moores' home. They headed up for the door and knocked. They were greeted by Matilda and heard a small child's bare feet slapping on the wood floor in the hall as he headed for the entryway. "Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?" little Riley yelled while he ran down the hall. He bodyslammed into his mother her body jolting forward upon impact. His body swung to her side where he clung onto her. He saw two familiar smiling faces staring back at him and he returned their stare with a big smile. "You came back! You came back!" he shouted in excitement after seeing the agents who had visited his home just a few days before. His big blue eyes were twinkling with excitement.

"I got another fish to play with Bubbles. Her name's Rosie," he told Amelia. "You did? I wanna see her!" she returned his enthusiasm. "Come on! I'll show you!" he said as he started running up the stairs. Amelia followed the small child upstairs and into his bedroom to see his new pet.

"Chief Prentiss, have you caught these men? Did you find our artwork?" Matilda asked Emily. Not yet, but we do have some photos I'd like to show you of some men we believe may be involved," she explained. "Aye. I'll get Hugo from his study. Take a seat, please. And would you like anything to drink? Some water or coffee or tea?" she asked. "No, thank you," Emily replied. Matilda nodded and then headed for her husband's study. Emily sat down at the kitchen table and placed the file onto it.

A couple minutes later Matilda returned to the kitchen with her husband. "Chief Prentiss, how have you been?" he asked as he made his way to the other side of the table. "I've been good, Sir, how about you?" she replied. "Good, I mean I've been better, but good," he replied. "What brings you here today?" he asked her.

"We have a lead on who may have committed these crimes. I have some photos I'd like you and your wife to look at and see if you recognize any of the men," she explained. He nodded and Emily took the photos out of the file and placed them on the table in front of Matilda and Hugo. After a moment of silence, Matilda began to speak. "This one, and this one, too they were both here the day the company came to fix the cameras," she told her.

"Do you recognize either of these men?" Emily asked as she pointed to the other two photos. "No. I don't believe I've ever seen either of them," Matilda replied and looked at her husband. Hugo studied the photos in front of him and then shook his head. "No. I don't know them. Never seen them before in my life," he answered.

"Okay. Thank you for your time. That's all I needed to know for now," she explained. "Do you think you're gonna find 'em?" Matilda asked. "Yes, I do. We're very close to catching them now. We just wanted to make sure that these were the men who did it before we made any arrests," Emily responded.

Matilda nodded in understanding and then she, her husband and Emily all stood up and began to head for the door. "Riley, it's time for our guests to leave," Matilda called up the stairs. A small, curly-haired head poked out the door and whined, "Aww, really? Can't they stay for five more minutes?"

"They have to get back to their work, baby, I'm sure they'll come by again soon," she replied. A minute later he let Amelia out of his bedroom and followed her down the stairs. Once downstairs, he found himself clinging to his mother's side again. They said their goodbyes and then made their way for the car.

Emily dialed Sophie's phone number and placed the phone to her ear. "Hi, Sophie, both the Campbell's and the Moore's recognized O'Doherty and MacClellan. Now we know they're definitely involved somehow," she explained. She paused for a minute and then responded. "Okay, we'll see you soon. Bye."

The two headed back for the station. After a short drive, they pulled into the station parking lot and went straight for the conference room where the rest of the team was waiting for them. "Any luck with Edinburgh?" Emily asked as she made her way towards the desk Jack was sitting behind. "They haven't called me back yet. They said they would call me as soon as they get something out of him," he explained.

"I think we should go in and bring these four into custody. Do we have addresses on Fitzgerald and Cunningham?" she asked. "No, but if I had to guess then I'd say that they were probably living with the other two," he replied. "Let's get Clark and head over there now. The sooner we bring them in the better," she ordered.

The team all nodded in agreement and got their things ready while Sophie went to get Chief Clack. Jack stayed behind in the event that Edinburgh called back while they were making the arrests. The team and Chief Clark headed for the apartment, sirens going.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It was early evening when they arrived at the apartment. They had to weave in and out of rush-hour traffic because everyone was getting out of work at the same time they were trying to get to the apartment. They figured by the time they got there, the suspects would either be there when they arrived or would be not far behind them.

They arrived at the apartment complex and pulled into the parking lot across the road. The team headed across the street and into the apartment building. They went up the stairs and stood in a line up against the wall to the right of the door. On Emily's count, Charlie kicked the door open and startled the four men sitting at the kitchen table.

"Interpol! Freeze!" he yelled. The four men looked at each other and debated making a run for it. After a moment they all put their hands in the air and were soon handcuffed by the three other agents and the chief of police.

They brought the men downstairs and outside to the vehicles that would bring them to the station. They were all led into separate interrogation rooms where they would be questioned at the same time and not have the opportunity to get their story the same beforehand.

Emily walked into one of the rooms and sat down across from a young redheaded man with green eyes and freckles. "Killian O'Doherty, my name is Chief Emily Prentiss from Interpol. Do you know why you're here?" she asked him. He shrugged and gave her a look like he didn't know. She placed several images of the artwork that was stolen in front of him and then some images of the devices that were planted in the systems. He looked at all the images then looked back up at her.

"This is all the artwork that you, MacClellan, Fitzgerald, and Cunningham stole from four different homes between Scotland, Ireland, and here in England. These are the devices that you and Douglas MacClellan planted in all four homes when you went on service calls for Fetch Security. Now, where is the artwork that you three stole? We already know that you stole it for Gordon Thorburn. We have him in custody right now," she told him.

"I don't know what yer talkin' about," he replied. "I think you do. Actually, I know you do," she retorted and pulled opened another file. She placed papers with messages between all five men in front of him. "These are messages between all of you about the artwork. I'm sure once my guys take a look at your phones and computers they'll find the same thing that I have here," she told him.

He kept silent and looked away from her. "Change your mind?" she asked. He started to say something but then stopped himself and just shook his head. She nodded, collected all of the photos and papers, and left the conference room. "What'd you get out of him?" Chief Clark asked her. "Nothing. He said he didn't know what I was talking about and then stopped talking once I pulled the messages out," she replied.

In another conference room, Amelia sat across from a man in his mid-to-late twenties with dark brown hair and light eyes. He seemed nervous from the presence of the agent sitting across from him. He was fiddling with his and his leg was bouncing up and down continuously.

She placed all the images in front of him and waited before she spoke, hoping that her silence would be enough to make him crack under the pressure and tell her everything he knew. He seemed to be getting more anxious by the minute when she decided it was time to speak. "So, Rory, care to tell me what all of these are?" she asked him with a serious look on her face. "Umm… uhh… it looks to me like some artwork," he stammered out.

"Do you know why I'm showing you these?" she asked. Avoiding eye contact, he didn't answer her question. "Do you know why I'm showing you these?" she asked again, this time a bit louder and more serious. "Umm… uhh… I-I-I dunno," he managed to get out. Amelia looked up to the two way mirror behind him and gave a slight nod.

Suddenly two other agents burst through the door each with two boxes in their hands. The boxes were filled with papers and each was labeled with a different name on them, one for each of the men involved. Amelia stood up, put both her hands on the desk and leaned forward towards Rory, who was now so anxious he was sweating.

"You see all these? This is all the evidence we have on you and your buddies. Do you think keeping quiet is gonna help you? We already have so much evidence on you four you're gonna rot in prison for this," she practically yelled at him.

"W-w-w-we was just doin' what we were told to. He said if we did it for 'im he'd pay us well. I-I-I just needed the extra money ya know? I wasn't tryin' to cause any harm. He said he was gonna take care of everything," he blurted out as he put his hands up in the air in front of his face as if he was shielding it from something.

Amelia looked over at the two other agents in the room and gave a nod for them to leave. They returned the nod and walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. Rory was practically cowering in the chair in front of her, afraid of what was going to come next.

She joined the other agents back in the conference room, waiting to hear what would happen next.

"What do you mean he doesn't have the artwork on him? I have the messages right here that say they're going to drop it at a specific drop site and he was to pick it up," Jack annoyedly told the officer on the other end of the line. "Did you check his whole house? Even the attic and the basement and the garage?" he asked. Jack looked at Emily and shook his head with an aggravated look on his face. "Okay well call me back when you _do_ look everywhere," he snapped and slammed the phone on the receiver.

"Blimey!" Jack shouted and put his hands on his face. "What, they don't have anything to hold him?" Emily asked. "They said he has nothin' in his house that'll tie him to the crimes. Not even any messages on his phone or his computer," he told her. "So where the hell is he keeping the artwork?" Charlie asked. "According to those wankers they already checked his house and didn't find anything. They're going to go back and do a second sweep of the place in case they missed anything," he answered frustratedly.

"I wonder if I can get more out of him. Actually, I know I can get more out of him. Let me go back in there I guarantee he knows more than he told us," Amelia added. Emily gave her a nod of approval and Amelia headed back to the interrogation room. Rory was still very worked up from before and was shaking like a dog in the cold.

Amelia took her seat on the other side of the table, folded her hands on the table and began to speak in a lower tone than before. "Rory, I need you to tell me where he's keeping the artwork. If you do this, we can prove what you told us, but without it, he's going to walk free and you and Killian, and Douglas, and Angus are gonna be locked up for the whole thing," she told him. "He-he-he told us to drop it off at this warehouse. Down some long road up by the Scotland border. He never said where he was takin' it to, just that it'd be safe there and that no one would find it," he replied.

"Did he ever talk about it being at his house or if it was somewhere else? Was he renting someplace that he would be able to keep them there?" she asked. "I-I don't know. He never said anything, but I don't think he was keepin' 'em at his house. He-he…" he trailed off as he tried to remember what Thorburn had told them.

After a moment of silence, a thought came flying into Rory's head and he practically screamed it when it came to him. "I remember now! He said it was somewhere he'd kept all his most important things, locked up, in what I don't know but…" he paused trying to think again.

"Thank you. I'll be right back, Rory," Amelia said as she got up and headed for the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Amelia walked back into the conference room and all eyes were now on her. "Check his bank statements. See if he has a lockbox, a storage unit, anything he could keep something of value in. Fitzgerald said Thorburn was going to put them with all the things he has of value. So, he has to have something that he's renting where he puts it all. Fitzgerald said he doesn't keep them in his house, so it has to be elsewhere," she explained as she looked at Jack.

Jack sat down at his desk and began typing at lightning speed. After a few minutes, he looked up, then at the phone and dialed a number quickly. "Go down to Knight's Storage. He has a storage locker there and I would be money that they're there," he ordered into the phone. He paused for a minute then responded again. "Let me know when you find them," he replied and then hung up.

Emily looked at him with a puzzled look on her face. "The bastard's been renting a storage locker there since '02. Even when he went to prison it was being paid for by his sister. I would bet all my money that he's got the artwork in there," he told her.

The team waited around for about an hour before they heard the phone ring. "Hello? What'd you find?" Jack eagerly asked. "Brilliant. I knew they'd be there. I'm glad he isn't getting away with this one," he responded. He and the officer on the other line had a short exchange after and then he hung up the phone. "They got 'em. They found the pieces all there in perfect condition," he announced.

"Good work. Let's go tell Chief Clark so he can get these four processed and we can start heading home," Emily ordered. She and Jack walked out into the lobby to go find the chief while the others packed up the conference room. "Archie, brother we got 'em. We got the bastard. He stupidly kept all the pieces in the storage locker with his other junk," he announced. "Brilliant! Jackie, I knew you and the team would figure this one out. Thanks a bunch, Jackie," Archie replied as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"And you, my dear, thank you for all you've done. You and your team are simply lovely," he said as he walked over to Emily and put his hands on her cheeks. "It's my pleasure, really. We just did our job," she smiled at him.

"I've got to make sure they get these clowns processed and then I'll be sure I see you before you go," Archie told them as he headed down the hall. Jack and Emily went back into the conference room to help clean up what was left and pack up their things. "So, it's up to you guys. We can either drive back tonight and get back late, or we can stay at the hotel and leave first thing in the morning," Emily announced.

Everyone looked at each other and decided that they'd rather sleep tonight and get going first thing in the morning. They felt that it was safer so that no one was too tired to drive. Once they had gathered their things, they headed for the cars and then for the hotel.

Everyone was exhausted from the long day they'd had and been looking forward to getting some sleep and soon being at home in their own beds. "Gee, I can't wait to take a hot shower," Amelia declared as she thought about how nice it would feel.

"Me too. I love me a hot shower," Charlie agreed. "I just can't wait to get some sleep in my own bed tomorrow," Sophie added and they all agreed. They all headed for their rooms and got ready for bed. George was already sound asleep by the time Charlie emerged from the shower.

Sophie was snuggled up in her bed and waited for Amelia to finish her shower. After Amelia was in her pajamas, she, too, snuggled under the blankets in her bed and reached for the snacks on the end table she and Sophie had gotten from the vending machine. The two watched a movie and wound up falling asleep halfway through it.

Jack found himself sitting in the chair by the window with a cup of decaf coffee and a book. He sat there, content until he finished his cup of coffee and decided it was time for bed. He climbed into bed, put the television onto one of those nonstop documentary channels, and drifted off to sleep.

Emily practically threw herself onto the bed as soon as she entered her room. She didn't even bother changing her clothes because she was exhausted. She lay there for a good fifteen minutes before she decided it was time to change and then go to sleep. She found a comfortable pair of pajama pants and a top to change into. She fell asleep almost immediately after lying down.

The next morning, Jack was the first one up, as usual. He followed his usual routine, getting the newspaper, getting a cup of coffee, and sitting by the window to read the paper in the light from the sun rising.

George was the next one up, who then woke Charlie up. Charlie moaned and groaned like a child being woken up for school. "Just five more minutes, okay?" he whined. "We have to leave here in a half hour, Charlie. If you don't get up now, we're going to be late because you don't like to wake up in the morning and take forever to get ready. Hell, sometimes you're worse than a woman," he lectured him.

Charlie let out an annoyed sigh and sat up. He waited a minute before he got up and made his way for the bathroom.

Sophie and Amelia were both awaken by the alarm they'd mutually agreed on setting the night before. They both hopped out of bed and Sophie headed for the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair while Amelia got dressed so that they could swap places once they were finished.

Emily found herself wide awake long before she'd wanted to be. She checked her phone what seemed like a long time ago, but in reality was only a half hour later. Reluctantly, she rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. She'd hoped a hot shower was what she needed to make her feel better about being up so early.

At approximately eight o'clock, everyone met in the lobby, bags in hand. Amelia and Jack went to pull the cars around, while Emily and George checked everyone out and the others waited by the door. They all climbed into the cars and began their long drive home. The ride home was nearly silent in Emily, George, and Jack's car, while Amelia and Sophie were putting on a concert in the front seat and Charlie was trying so hard to ignore them while he played on his phone.

"Hopefully junior won't have to pee this car ride," Jack joked as he looked over at Emily. She smiled and replied, "Yeah, I hope so. It's much quieter this time around, don't you think?"

"Aye. It is. George, here, knows how to keep quiet and not complain every five seconds," he added. "I hope he's enjoying the concert he's probably getting right about now," George scoffed.

In the other car, Charlie found himself becoming quickly annoyed with the girls in the front seat. He reached into the trunk to see if he could reach his bag and grab the pair of headphones he always took with him. He turned the volume up as loud as he could, but he still couldn't seem to drown out the horrific singing coming from the front seat.

They arrived back at the office at about ten-thirty. Charlie practically jumped out of the car, finally escaping the two women in the front seat. Sophie and Amelia made their way over to Emily so that they could discuss their plans for later on that week.

"So Thursday, we'll come over, go out for the day and then, later on, we can unpack, your things, make some dinner, or order in, whatever you'd like, and then we can finish up and hang out. Then, on Friday we can do some shopping, maybe go to a museum," Sophie had planned out the whole thing already and they hadn't even decided where they were going yet.

"Yes, that sounds great. Thank you, again, you guys don't have to do all this," Emily thanked them. "We don't _have_ to, but we _want_ to," Amelia insisted.

Emily smiled. She was glad that they were helping her out. After all, it had been a while since she was last in London, and other than Clyde, she really didn't have any other friends here. Although she missed the friends that she called family back home, she was glad she was making new ones here.

The End


End file.
